I have decided to pack my mediocre telescope and binos and Patrick Moore star guide for my forthcoming R&R trip to rural Leicestershire.
Why? Well it seems we have an exciting Nova event due sometime in the next 6 months:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240322-visible-nova-explosion-is-coming
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/t-coronae-borealis-nova
This binary star is 3,000 LY away and usually Magnitude 10. But will brighten to Magnitude 2 soon! It does this every 80 years.
It's caused by the White Dwarf accumulating matter from its Red Giant companion until it ignites into fusion.
That is as bright as the North Star Polaris.
Vega and Arcturus are easily enough spotted. Vega is the bright blue star you see overhead in summer. Bright Orange Arcturus is almost ever present round the tail of the Plough.
We might get a really good view of this.
This part of the sky is considered usually rather uninteresting by yours truly, but I shall familiarise myself with Corona Borealis:
This will be visible even to the naked eye, light-pollution permitting!
Just have to watch out for news of when T CrB goes POP!
I really need to ask my expert photographer brother how proper-job big Nikon cameras work, since I see loads of bodies and lenses going second-hand for about £150 overall.
That and a tripod and a 30 second exposure can really work well to my understanding.
Why? Well it seems we have an exciting Nova event due sometime in the next 6 months:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240322-visible-nova-explosion-is-coming
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/t-coronae-borealis-nova
This binary star is 3,000 LY away and usually Magnitude 10. But will brighten to Magnitude 2 soon! It does this every 80 years.
It's caused by the White Dwarf accumulating matter from its Red Giant companion until it ignites into fusion.
That is as bright as the North Star Polaris.
Vega and Arcturus are easily enough spotted. Vega is the bright blue star you see overhead in summer. Bright Orange Arcturus is almost ever present round the tail of the Plough.
We might get a really good view of this.
This part of the sky is considered usually rather uninteresting by yours truly, but I shall familiarise myself with Corona Borealis:
This will be visible even to the naked eye, light-pollution permitting!
Just have to watch out for news of when T CrB goes POP!
I really need to ask my expert photographer brother how proper-job big Nikon cameras work, since I see loads of bodies and lenses going second-hand for about £150 overall.
That and a tripod and a 30 second exposure can really work well to my understanding.
Not been around for a while but wondered about new ideas on detecting ghost particles
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68631692
Which also mentions this one that I am not sure really relates
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.01487
Neither are long articles. For me the 2nd one is too short.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68631692
Which also mentions this one that I am not sure really relates
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.01487
Neither are long articles. For me the 2nd one is too short.
new ideas on detecting ghost particles
However, both articles are full of SHiP - the Search for Hidden Particles!
Even if the atom smashers don't have a "ghost" of a chance of finding them, the search is thought to be good value at a cost of only £100m!
The term "ghost particles" is usually reserved for the neutrinos - elementary (indivisible) particles in the Standard Model.
The boffins have theorised that for each one of the 17 elementary particles in the Standard Model there exists a "hidden" counterpart.
To avoid ambiguity, we should refer to these counterparts as "hidden particles" and not "ghosts".
It is now hoped that these hidden particles will reveal themselves when the likes of protons are propelled violently against a fixed target as described in the first of AjohnL's links above.
I see that I posted about the 'hidden sector' in January (post #3,503). Here's an excerpt:
Theoretical physicists talk about a world of particles, cousins of dark matter, that may exist 'beside' our own. Since they must rarely interact with ordinary matter, these particles are said to exist in a 'hidden sector', explaining why they've escaped detection for so long. Particle physicists are hopeful that they might be able to detect these hidden sector particles in the near future.
At least the search will keep the Profs happy as they dip into the funding.
As a representative says, "We are explorers, and we believe that we can see something interesting in this new terrain. So, we have to take a look."
So that's OK then!
I've been finding out more about the "CERN SPS Beam Dump Facility" that was mentioned in AjohnL's second link. (SPS stands for Super Proton Synchrotron, by the way.)
The term 'Beam Dump' refers to when the majority of the protons in a beam incident on a fixed target are absorbed and most of the cascade of generated particles is contained. Initially the facility will be involved in the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) experiment.
Amongst the generated cascade of particles, the physicists hope to find the 'dark photon'.
The dark photon is thought to bridge the gap between the elusive hidden (dark) sector of particles and regular matter.
The term 'Beam Dump' refers to when the majority of the protons in a beam incident on a fixed target are absorbed and most of the cascade of generated particles is contained. Initially the facility will be involved in the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) experiment.
Amongst the generated cascade of particles, the physicists hope to find the 'dark photon'.
The dark photon is thought to bridge the gap between the elusive hidden (dark) sector of particles and regular matter.
NASA to set up a reference clock on the Moon where seconds tick faster than on Earth.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-moon-needs-its-own-time-zone-says-nasa/ar-BB1l0QYX
That sounds like a question for @Bonsai who is always keen to remind us that time runs differently in different places in the Universe.
I read that time flowed five times slower shortly after the Big Bang: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66091620
Observations of quasars have allowed scientists to witness time apparently moving in slow motion in the early universe.
I'd guess it's lunch time....
What's for lunch on the Moon today?
Why, cheese of course!
"“If dark energy is not a cosmological constant, that’s going to be a huge discovery.”"
https://www.quantamagazine.org/dark-energy-may-be-weakening-major-astrophysics-study-finds-20240404/
"The fate of the cosmos would depend on how quickly the number previously known as the cosmological constant declines, and how far it might go. If it reaches zero, cosmic acceleration would stop. If it dips far enough below zero, the expansion of space would turn to a slow contraction — the sort of reversal required for cyclic theories of cosmology, such as those developed by Steinhardt."
//
https://www.quantamagazine.org/dark-energy-may-be-weakening-major-astrophysics-study-finds-20240404/
"The fate of the cosmos would depend on how quickly the number previously known as the cosmological constant declines, and how far it might go. If it reaches zero, cosmic acceleration would stop. If it dips far enough below zero, the expansion of space would turn to a slow contraction — the sort of reversal required for cyclic theories of cosmology, such as those developed by Steinhardt."
//
This is fun, see the animation here:
https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2024/04/...st-precise-measurement-of-expanding-universe/
But the new data raises the possibility that dark energy is not constant throughout time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/science/space/astronomy-universe-dark-energy.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science...r-3d-map-universe-dark-energy-data-scientists
https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2024/04/...st-precise-measurement-of-expanding-universe/
But the new data raises the possibility that dark energy is not constant throughout time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/science/space/astronomy-universe-dark-energy.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science...r-3d-map-universe-dark-energy-data-scientists
As we have discussed before, there is a discrepancy between the value of the Hubble constant as predicted by the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model and the value obtained by measurements involving type 1A supernovae.
Now measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) team, which involve millions of distant galaxies that exist in different cosmic eras, have also been shown to depart from the Lamba-CDM model prediction.
Apparently the DESI data could either represent rare statistical fluctuations or real evidence that the expansion rate of the universe is slowing.
This gives TNT great comfort through reinforcing his undying belief that the Universe is going to end in a Big Crunch!
Contrary to TNT's article, the Guardian article says the results from the partial DESI 3D map of our universe "confirm that the expansion of the universe is speeding up"!
What fun indeed!
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What is definitely the case is that the DESI survey is seeking to provide observational support for the theory that the cosmological constant might not be a constant after all, but changes over cosmic time.
This theory is called 'quintessence'.
So dark energy may be something called "quintessence" - a dynamic field that changes over time.
In classical and medieval philosophy, "quintessence" is a fifth substance in addition to the four elements (Air, Fire, Water & Earth), thought to compose the heavenly bodies and to be hidden in all things.
This theory is called 'quintessence'.
So dark energy may be something called "quintessence" - a dynamic field that changes over time.
In classical and medieval philosophy, "quintessence" is a fifth substance in addition to the four elements (Air, Fire, Water & Earth), thought to compose the heavenly bodies and to be hidden in all things.